1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a function of controlling return from a reduced power consumption state into which the apparatus shifts when not used, a control method therefor, an image forming system, and a program for implementing the control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a security system which identifies users which use a plurality of user terminals (personal computers) arranged in an indoor environment or a field environment and permits only the authenticated users to use their terminals (for instance, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-157040). In such a security system, when a user comes near to a user terminal, communication is carried out between a communication apparatus located near the user terminal and a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag carried by the user, so that the user terminal is automatically activated (powered on) and the user is automatically authenticated, to thereby improve userfriendliness.
However, when the above conventional security system is applied to an image forming apparatus, when any of a plurality of users authorized (licensed) to use the image forming apparatus merely passes thereby, the image forming apparatus returns from a sleep mode as the reduced power consumption state. As a result, each time a user, who actually has no will to use the image forming apparatus, passes thereby, it returns from the reduced power consumption state, leading to degraded energy saving efficiency.